CareerTech board approves midyear personnel report and unveils employee engagement plan

The Oklahoma State Board of Career and Technology Education on July 1 ratified its midyear personnel report covering Jan. 1–June 30, 2024, and discussed a set of follow‑up measures aimed at improving employee engagement, communication and internal advancement.

Board members voted to approve the personnel report after a procedural reconsideration. Human resources manager Raquel Parley told the board the packet includes all appointments, promotions, resignations and retirements for full‑ and part‑time staff and reported about a 5% turnover rate during the period.

The board then reviewed an employee engagement survey administered by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services. The director said the survey returns were limited (about 19 responses out of roughly 221 employees), so leaders view the results as indicative but incomplete. The director told the board most items about work‑unit conditions, commitment and recommending the agency as a workplace scored in the ‘‘very favorable’’ range, while supervision/communication and pay were consistent areas of concern.

Justin Lockwood, who led the presentation of action plans, detailed concrete steps to address the concerns. He said the agency will run an “Explore, Engage, Embrace” cohort for about 20 employees and a manager cohort for recently promoted managers, implement a standardized onboarding checklist and a mentor map assigning mentors to new hires, and require HR representation on hiring interview panels to increase consistency. “We consider our employees our most valuable resource,” Lockwood said. “To retain them, we need to take care of our people and do what we can.”

Lockwood also described additional HR practices already in place or being expanded: senior‑leader 180 reviews, HR 90‑day follow‑ups with new hires and director six‑month check‑ins, exit interviews shared with leadership, and internal training capacity for StrengthsFinder facilitation. He said the agency had a professional development budget of $40,000 to fund conferences and training and that leadership is exploring ways to increase that amount to send more employees to national events.

The presentation included recruitment metrics: 55 job openings last year, roughly 31% (about 18) were filled by internal candidates; among 38 openings that had internal applicants, the agency filled approximately 47% internally. For manager‑and‑above positions, Lockwood said 7 of 9 openings were filled with internal candidates.

Board members discussed participation barriers — for example, about 45 instructors work inside correctional facilities and are often unavailable for agency‑wide Zoom events — and the board supported repeating the cohort series and developing a deeper follow‑up series after the agency’s August summit. No additional formal action beyond ratifying the personnel report was taken at the meeting.

The agency said it will continue to present survey results publicly to staff and will return to the board with updates on implementation and results of the planned cohorts and other measures.